Saturday, October 30, 2010

Thank you, my fatherlandFor helping me to be totally reintegrated and normalisedOnly in the world’s greatest socialist democracycould one hope to be forgiven for losing temporary sightof the aims and goals of the of the Marxist/Leninist revolution

Two years it took me to be cured of my illnessBeing still a relatively young and fit manI was still in search of fulfilmentThe memory of Olger, Sergey and my two childrenMotivated me to seek an occupationThat would both repay my debt to my great partyAnd obviously help the way to international socialismI was still unable to resume my lectureship at the sub-nucleonic particle physicsAnd therefore volunteered to help our Afghan comradesIn their great struggle for liberationI was readily acceptedInto a motorized maintenance unit

It was not long before I realised that our supportFor the liberation struggle of our comrades in AfghanistanWas not viewed at all together unanimously by the local populationIn fact, we were not allowed outside of the barracks unless we were in large armoured groups

During our brief stay in AfghanistanWe had discovered some of the very few pleasures open to visitors to this desolate placeA local concoction called “hashish” was being increasingly used by our troopsAnd many of the helicopter gunship and tank crews, moreoverWould smoke large chillums and joints before embarking on missions around the mountains, surrounding Kabul

Every week comrades who had fallen into the hands of the rebelswould be found in various states of dismemberment around the campThose unlucky enough to be still aliveWere sent from rehabilitationto the German democratic republicsSince this would prevent any undue alarm by our loved ones back homeThe wisdom of this policy is evidence of our leaders’ great care for their people

Apart from hashish there was not much to divert or endure the cold mountain nightsAnd increasingly there were signs of the troops acquiring the illness of which I had previously been curedAnd therefore, my attention was focused more on looking at the few animals that were kept within the military compound.As is often the case between human beings and animalsA close bond of affection can developAnd I became increasingly close to a camel I named DimitriAh, dear Dimitri

No one can really understand the relationship between a man and his camelAs was the case with the army doctors and my superiorsWho sent me to convalesce in the German democratic republic.

Mike & The Mechanics, Silent Running:

Timbuk 3, Life is Hard:

Everybody knows "Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," but I thought that whole album, Greetings from Timbuk 3, was pretty awesome.